Alexandra Shimo
Early life and education
Born in Toronto, Canada, Shimo grew up in London, United Kingdom. She graduated Oxford University with an BA in Philosophy, politics and economics followed by a Masters from Columbia University in journalism.{{cite web |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/authors/220967/alexandra-shimo |title=Alexandra Shimo |publisher=Penguin Random House Canada |access-date=31 March 2024}}
Writing career
In 2016, Shimo published Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve. Based on first person reportage of the four months Shimo lived in Kashechewan First Nation reserve in northern Ontario, the book describes how inhuman conditions had decimated the local community and the legal, economic and political circumstances that trap many northern indigenous communities in poverty. The book was longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, and a finalist for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.[https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/b-c-national-book-award-goes-to-sandra-martin "B.C. national book award goes to Sandra Martin"]. Vancouver Sun, January 26, 2017. It was one of the Globe and Mail's best books of the year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-globe-100-books-reading-these-are-the-best-books-of-2016/article33132356/|title=The Globe 100: These are the best books of 2016|access-date=2019-07-01}}
Shimo was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2014 Governor General's Awards as cowriter of Edmund Metatawabin's memoir Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/governor-general-finalists-unveiled/article20959928/ "Governor-General Literary Awards finalists unveiled"]. The Globe and Mail, October 7, 2014. The book describes Metatawabin's life during and after St. Anne's, a residential school in Fort Albany, northern Ontario. The book became a national bestseller and was named one of the best books of 2014 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,{{cite web|title=CBC Books' roundup of our favourite Canadian books of the year|url=http://www.cbc.ca/books/bestbooks2014/index.html|website=CBC Books}} The Hill Times and Quill and Quire.{{cite web|title=Q&Q's picks for books of the year 2014|url=http://www.quillandquire.com/books-year/2014/12/01/books-of-the-year-2014/3/|website=Quill and Quire|date=December 1, 2014}} In February 2015, it was named one of the winners of the CBC's Bookie Awards.{{cite web|title=2015 CBC Bookie Awards|url=http://www.cbc.ca/books/bookies2015/index.html|website=CBC Books}}
A former editor at Maclean's, Shimo is a freelance journalist who has contributed to The Guardian, the Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Maclean's, the National Post, The Globe and Mail and Toronto Life, she is also the author of The Environment Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add to or Subtract From Your Total Carbon Footprint.[https://www.forbes.com/2008/04/15/green-carbon-living-forbeslife-cx_ls_0415carbon.html "How To Calculate Your Carbon Footprint"]. Forbes, April 15, 2008.
Teaching
She teaches creative nonfiction part-time at University of Toronto Continuing Studies.{{Cite web|url=https://learn.utoronto.ca/why-continuing-studies/about-our-instructors/instructors/alexandra-shimo|title=Alexandra Shimo|website=School of Continuing Studies - University of Toronto|language=en|access-date=2019-07-01}}
Awards
- Finalist 2017 – BC Achievement Award for Non Fiction {{cite web|title=BC National Book Award Goes to Sandra Martin|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/b-c-national-book-award-goes-to-sandra-martin|website=Vancouver Sun|accessdate=15 February 2017}}
- Winner 2016 - Speaker's Book Award {{cite web|title=Edmund Metatawabin and Alexandra Shimo win Speaker's Book Award|date=8 March 2016 |url=http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2016/03/08/edmund-metatawabin-and-alexandra-shimo-win-speakers-book-award/|publisher=Quill and Quire}}
- Winner 2015 – CBC Books Bookie Award for Non-Fiction {{cite web|title=2015 CBC Bookie Awards|url=http://www.cbc.ca/books/bookies2015/index.html|website=CBC Books}}
- Winner 2015 – Ontario Historical Society's Donald Grant Creighton Award{{cite web|url=https://www.ontariohistoricalsociety.ca/index.php/2014-03-04-21-07-46/news-archives/406-2014-15-honours-and-awards-recipients-announced|title=2014-15 Honours and Awards Recipients Announced|publisher=Ontario Historical Society|accessdate=29 March 2016}}
- Finalist 2014 – Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction
- Finalist 2015–2016 – Trillium Book Award{{cite web|title=Finalists for 2015 Trillium Book Award Announced|url=http://www.omdc.on.ca/news_publications/News_Releases/Finalists_for_2015_Trillium_Book_Award_Announced_s1_p1784.htm|website=OMDC|accessdate=29 March 2016|archive-date=10 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410035706/http://www.omdc.on.ca/news_publications/News_Releases/Finalists_for_2015_Trillium_Book_Award_Announced_s1_p1784.htm|url-status=dead}}
- Finalist 2015–2016 – First Nation Communities Read{{cite web|title=First Nation Communities Read announces 2015-2016 shortlist of books for young adults and adults|url=http://www.thebpc.ca/member-news/first-nation-communities-read-announces-2015-2016-shortlist-of-books-for-young-adults-and-adults/|website=thebpc.ca|publisher=Book and Periodical Council|accessdate=29 March 2016}}
Works
- The Environment Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add to or Subtract From Your Total Carbon Footprint (2008)
- Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History (2014)
- Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve (2016)
References
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External links
- [http://alexandrashimo.com/ Alexandra Shimo]
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Category:Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents
Category:Canadian magazine writers
Category:Canadian LGBTQ journalists
Category:Canadian lesbian writers
Category:21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century Canadian women writers
Category:Maclean's writers and editors
Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers
Category:Canadian women columnists